Australian Medical Association

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, tonight presented the AMA President’s Award to Queensland obstetrician and gynaecologist, Professor Caroline de Costa.

The President’s Award is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution towards fostering the objectives of the AMA in pursuit of a better health system for Australia.

Dr Pesce said that Professor de Costa had displayed outstanding commitment and perseverance in the area of women’s health.

“Professor de Costa has actively and fearlessly represented women’s interests in clinical work and advocacy for many years,” Dr Pesce said.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, tonight presented the Presidents and CEOs of the State and Territory AMA organisations with awards for outstanding work in lobbying and communication.

The categories for the awards were Best State Publication, Most Innovative Use of Website or New Media, Best Lobby Campaign, and Best Public Health Campaign.

The Medical Journal of Australia/Wyeth Australia award for the best original research published in the MJA was tonight awarded to a research paper that examined the effectiveness of point-of-care testing for therapeutic control of chronic conditions.

The paper – authored by a team of researchers from the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the Flinders Medical Centre – was published in the 1 June 2009 edition of the MJA.

The authors – Tanya K Bubner, Caroline O Laurence, Angela Gialmas, Lisa N Yelland, Philip Ryan, Kristyn J Wilson, Philip Tideman, Paul Worley, and Justin J Beilby – set out to compare the clinical effectiveness of point-of-care testing (PoCT) and pathology laboratory testing, as measured by therapeutic control in chronic conditions.

A Victorian writer, researcher and playwright has won this year’s Ross Ingram Memorial Essay Competition for her essay – Healing our communities, healing ourselves – in which she reflects upon her life and her work and how it equipped her to work as an Aboriginal Research Officer looking into the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children.

Jane Harrison is a descendant of the Muruwari people of New South Wales, from the area around Bourke and Brewarrina.  She grew up in the Victorian Dandenongs with her mother and sister.

Healing our communities, healing ourselves was published in the 16 May 2010 edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Nominations for the 2010 AMA Award for Excellence in Health Care are now being accepted.

The Federal AMA is conducting the AMA Awards program, which recognises the work of State and Territory AMAs in promoting the Association and the profession. Submissions for the 2010 AMA State Awards are now being accepted.

Canberra doctor Peter Sharp has received the prestigious AMA Excellence in Health Care Award for his work as medical director of Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service.

Dr Sharp received the award from AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, in a ceremony at the AMA National Conference in last night.

“Peter’s work at Winnunga is truly inspirational,” Dr Capolingua said.

“Under Peter’s leadership, the once common problem of Hepatitis B infections among the services’ clients has all but disappeared, childhood immunization rates are up and birth weights have increased.

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